TRINIDAD 1847-1868

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1847 The Lady Mc Leod stamp

(5 c) blue

This stamp was issued on the steamship Lady McLeod, it carried letters from San Fernando de Trinidad to Port of Spain (the capital of Trinidad). This privately issued stamp is the earliest stamp used in any British Colony and was issued in April 1847. I have only seen this stamp cancelled with the penstrokes as shown above.

There is a coloured line around these forgeries. Inside a white space can be found, before the background pattern starts. The cancel (always?) consists of a numeral cancel with '1' in the center. The forger also made similar forgeries for Mauritius and Barbados:

(Trinidad forgery next to a similar forgery for Mauritius and Barbados)

Some other blotchy forgeries:

(There should be a white outline around the hair, which is absent in the above forgery)

And a highly suspect item:

(Forgery?)

1859 As before, but now with value indicated, perforated or imperforated